Rave Review For Mary Wilson

[Emerald City]

Words Of Wisdom From A Pro
By Laura Nation



Outstanding.

Sensational.

Inspirational.

If that doesn't say enough, I can tell you this.

Mary Wilson and The Supremes just about knocked me out of my seat Saturday night. If you didn't get to see them at Talladega's Ritz Theater Saturday night, you really missed a treat.

Oh, I knew Mary Wilson is a long-time pro in the entertainment field, but I've seen lots of long-time pros who don't deliver when you go to see them.

And certainly not like she did.

This woman is a phenomenon, I hardly know where to start. Without first acknowledging her distinctive talent, I have to comment on a couple of other things.

Like her professionalism. Wilson performed like she was in front of thousands of fans somewhere like the Las Vegas Hilton. We weren't shorted on performance just because we're little old Talladega. She treated us like we were somebody.

And not only that.

She treated us like we were folks she cared about.

She invited people on stage to sing with her. She patted little children who stared up at her with adoring eyes and had a hug for every long-time fan who reached out to her.

And still, she never missed a note.

Her contagious smile beamed through the entire performance, another way we all felt special. She gave encores, three I think in the early show. I was starting to feel guilty about it, and told a friend "we'd better let her go!"

But no one could sit down and stop clapping.

And truly, I was beginning to get the feeling this lady didn't mind one bit returning to the stage time after time.

What she told me during a telephone interview last week was apparent.

"I love what I do," she told me.

I'd asked how she kept the schedule she did, and how it all didn't get old to her after all her years in the business.

[Emerald City]

It certainly showed on stage Saturday night, I can tell you that.

I felt fortunate to be in the audience, to see how some people really do love their work, and obviously, love people, too.

I said earlier, Wilson was inspirational.

And she was, but I don't mean only in the sense of her talent. She had a few words to say at the end of the show that I hope stay with most of us who were there.

She said, "If you've felt any love from this performance, please take it out in the world with you. The world needs more of that."

Then she went on to say a few words about the shape the world's in right now, and I couldn't have agreed more.

We should worry about it.

Wilson said another thing that will stay with me, at least I hope it does.

She told us she's delighted to wake up in the morning and be able to draw a breath.

"And then, I'm so grateful I can get up and do this," she said.

Those are words to live by. The little things that don't matter, let them go.

Be happy you can get up and go to work.

Lots of people can't.

Be happy you're living in a country that, for right now at least, isn't filled with car bombs and people who use children to deliver bombs to the people they hate.

Be happy if, for the most part, you like your job.

And if you're lucky enough to be like Wilson and love what you do, you're truly one of the fortunate.

I meet people all the time who say they hate going to work every day. I think we're pretty lucky here in the newsroom at The Daily Home. I rarely, if ever, hear that.

Wilson came out front after her show Saturday, signed autographs and spoke with the people who loved her.

And even after all that, was willing to appease me and a gathering of friends who asked her to have a picture made with them.

She's something else.

"I just wish we could get her to come back," a friend of mine said

[Emerald City]

Mary is really holdin it down!

[Motorcity]

Great review for Ms. Mary :cheers: